Yesterday, language-learning platform Duolingo announced a partnership with Twitch — yes, you read that right — to begin what’s called the Duolingo Verified Streamer program. The company chose 12 multilingual streamers to partner with who stream everything from cooking to CS: GO. The idea is that practicing with a streamer will help you learn faster, even if you aren’t speaking aloud. Immersion, above all, is key to learning a new language.
According to the company, each Duolingo streamer is part of its Global Ambassador program, which is a worldwide network of volunteers that helps Duolingo host events, build courses, and generally advance its mission. The company’s Twitch partnership is starting with Duolingo’s core languages, which include English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, and Arabic. Duolingo promises to add more languages and streamers to its roster in the future.
Even if it’s somewhat unconventional, the partnership does seem like a good idea. While it was possible to get the same kind of immersion before — by, uh, watching streams in the language you were trying to learn — formalizing the process makes a lot of sense. After all: the Duolingo owl just wants to meet you where you are.
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Source: Theverge
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